Autoimmune Disorders

09/20/2011

This is a question that someone in the PEERtrainer community asked in response to our PEERtrainer Fitness Fusion article. We got an excellent response from our friends at the Egoscue Center, who help people get out of as much physical pain as possible.

PEERtrainer Note: This is a spinal form of arthritis- and there are tons of other people with various autoimmune disorders who are in physical pain. Hopefully this advice will help anyone with an autoimmune disease. We also recommend a clean diet that is also high in micronutrients to help deal with autoimmune disease. Dr. Fuhrman's eating plan has had particular success in this area.

Answer From Pete's team: AK is a serious diagnosis. (OK, I said it...) Now let's move onto something a little more enlightening and positive. A dentist of mine said to me one time that I should only floss the teeth that I want to keep. I have adopted that saying for this discussion and I want you to think about your joints, muscles, ligaments...and other internal structures the same way that we would think about our teeth. Only move the ones that you want to keep.

Yes, AK sucks! Yes, the pain is persistent! Yes, you could gradually get worse to the point of joint and overall body deformity.

No, you don't have to let any of this happen. As you decrease your movement and your stress and emotional negativity about the symptoms increases, your immune system begins to spiral downward. Every system is tied directly to your immunity and especially your lymph system and digestive system.

Just by you being on PEERtrainer and taking the time to ask this question means that you have NOT given into this progressive, dismal diagnosis. Don't let the fear take over and get moving! I am not telling you to ignore what your very helpful MD's have told you... I am just saying that the fear tied to this can be squashed when in addition to your normal meds, you are given a dose of hope as your next medication, via the exercises, your prognosis is completely different that it was yesterday.

Get the Pain Free book, try the e-cises and if you have to decrease your reps and sets, do it.

03/16/2011

When the suggestion is made that people ought to at least explore a reduction in wheat and gluten in their diets, it often triggers a sense of panic as people start to make a mental note of all the foods they commonly eat that have wheat and gluten in them.

The reality is that in the US and in the West, we eat a diet very high in wheat. The other reality is that something has gone horribly wrong with the wheat itself. Doctors, scientists and researchers are just starting to get a handle on why.

What we do know is that gluten-free foods are a rapidly growing market. Different people react to gluten in different ways. Some people put on extra weight in the gut, others develop intestinal discomfort, and others suffer from skin reactions.

A key component of the new PEERtrainer Cheat System is that we provide a structure to help you reduce wheat and gluten levels in your body. People are reporting that they are feeling better and have more energy on this (free) system. We also direct you to foods which help to serve as a replacement for the gluten.

What Is Gluten And Why Is It A Problem?

According to Alan Pressman, PhD: "Gluten is a protein, and it can be found in wheat, rye, and barley. Many people are allergic to it, and millions of people are sensitive to it. It can trigger all sorts of inflammatory responses in your intestinal track and entire body. It creates chronic inflammation throughout the body, and if you are sensitive or allergic to it can cause a 72 percent increased risk of death. That's pretty serious business."

As we have written before, inflammation is a serious issue and has implications for both your health and your weight loss. As you reduce levels of inflammation in your body, you become healthier and it is usually easier to lose weight.

Can You Lose Weight On A Gluten Free Diet?

A side effect of a gluten free or gluten reduced diet is often weight loss. The exact reason this happens is unclear, but would observe that most people who adopt a gluten free diet, tend to do so in the context of overall improvement in their diet. When people increase the nutrient density of their diet, they tend to feel more full and have fewer hunger cravings.

Does A Gluten Free Diet Give You More Energy?

From our own personal experience, a gluten free diet can lead to a dramatic increase in energy. Again, we are not sure if it is the absence of wheat or the presence of better overall nutrition, but when you start to remove breads, grains and pasta from the diet, you tend to replace it with higher nutrient foods. Which will increase your energy.

Can A Gluten Free Diet Target Belly Fat Or Beer Bellies?

It is very common to hear that one loses weight everywhere at once, at that you cannot "target belly fat." Lets pick apart that assertion by asking this question. Have you ever heard the term "wine belly?" According to Dr. William Davis, a cardiologist, consumption of large quantities of wheat can lead to what he calls a "Wheat Belly."

In his patients, reduction in wheat consumption has helped them. He advises people to go wheat free for a 4 week period to see what happens. He states that you will have more energy, you'll be less hungry, and you will have more stamina during the day. As a cardiologist, he also points out that your risk for heart disease will lower.

What Are The Downsides Of A Gluten Free Diet?

According to Alan Pressman, if you do reduce gluten in your diet, you need to make sure to eat foods that help to feed the "good bacteria" in your stomach. He states that "It just so happens your probiotics - the ProDophilus that live in your body absolutely love gluten. it's a great source of food for those good bacteria. It can be considered a prebiotic. Removing gluten from your diet is a good thing do, but you are starving out your Bifidobacterium and basilis, which is not good at all. Make sure that as you eliminate gluten from your diet, you replace the food for your bacteria...... Asparagus, bananas, fruit, green tea, yogurt and kefir, legumes, peas, and whole grains are excellent sources of these prebiotics."

How Do You Start Reducing Gluten In Your Diet?

An excellent way of beginning to reduce gluten and wheat is to find ways of being able to identify ways that you can practically do this. For those of you who have downloaded the PEERtrainer Cheat System, you will see that we have created a very easy framework that gets plenty of high nutrient calories into your diet. But this is in a context where there is plenty of "wiggle room" for you.

It is not restrictive, and lets you move towards your health goal at your pace.

If you have not yet downloaded your free copy of the PEERtrainer Cheat System, you can do so here.

If you are looking for Gluten Free recipes, almost every single one that PEERtrainer has developed is gluten free. We haven't "gone public" with this until now, and wanted to see how easy it was for people to actually do this.

It is, and people are able to to many of our recipes. We got one email recently that said:

This can be a long and frustrating process. There is wheat and gluten in so many things, some things that you enjoy very much. Once you do find foods that you enjoy, you'll find the process very easy in your home. At restaurants and on the road, it is more difficult. Avocado is an excellent go to food when you are traveling. It is nutrient dense, has a great mix of protein, fat, carbs and important micronutrients. There are a decent amount of calories in avocado, but this is actually a good thing because it is very difficult to be overweight on a gluten free diet.

Will Getting Rid Of Gluten Help Me Get Rid Of Eczema?

There is no "cure" for eczema, but the symptoms can be controlled. This too can be an extremely long process, but if you totally, 100% eliminate wheat from your diet, you might be very surprised at how your symptoms and discomfort decrease. You also need to make sure to take a high quality fish oil in high doses each day, which will help control your overall immune response.

There are many "internal" things you can do to control the symptoms of eczema. So much treatment focuses on the external. If you do things like eliminate wheat and dairy, increase your greens, start taking a probiotic, make sure to take a fish oil supplement- you are likely to see some improvement.

As an fyi, the PEERtrainer Cheat System was developed by a group of people very familiar with eczema and gluten intolerance. It is an easy way to eliminate gluten from your diet.

"I Have Type 2 Diabetes. Will Reducing Gluten Help Me?"

The answer to this question is that most people will benefit a great deal from a reduction of wheat in their diet. Type 2 Diabetics are no exception. If you are a Type 2 Diabetic having a hard time losing weight, gluten elimination is something to try for sure.

How Do I Cure The Damage That Gluten Has Done To My System?

There is a growing list of reasons you should not have gluten in your diet, or explore eliminating it for a period. Another important question is what to do after the damage has been done. Remember that inflammation is a key symptom among people who have a reaction to gluten. Fish Oil is something that will help to treat inflammation. But you have to focus on the gut itself, and building gut health. This is a tricky area because health experts are JUST starting to get a handle on how this works.

Nothing you read online can treat or diagnose anything. However, there are things you might want to explore. L-Glutamine in supplement form is something that is commonly used to treat the gut by health professionals. Probiotics are also commonly suggested by health professionals to help overall gut health.

02/09/2011

Most people in PEERtrainer are familiar with the basic ideas of Dr. Joel Fuhrman. We work hard to make sure that people understand his concept of "nutrient density" because it represents a different way of looking at the weight loss process.

What Is Nutrient Density And Why Is It Important?

If you are not familiar with nutrient density or are unclear what it means, the basic idea is that certain foods have dramatically higher levels of "good stuff" than other foods. When you eat a lot of the "good stuff" a primary benefit is that it makes you less hungry. Your body starts to get the nutrients it needs, and begins to stop sending your brain signals commonly known as "food cravings."

This is a powerful idea, and combined with other core ideas that we promote, has helped to literally transform the lives of thousands of people on PEERtrainer. We get emails every single day thanking us for pointing people in this direction.

Often times, people have a lot of questions once they begin to grasp the basic idea of nutrient density. It has the power to help you reduce your weight, but also put you on the path to better health. One can lose weight pretty quickly, but the health part of the equation can be harder to get back into balance. You can't expect to instantly get into better health after abusing your body for 20 years.

Usually when people are in this process, especially on the health side of the equation, they have many questions.

In this forum he has already answered ten thousand questions and both the questions and the results are searchable. In addition, for questions not already answered Dr. Fuhrman answers those each week and posts them.

Access to this information and access to Dr. F is ridiculously cheap- about $15 a month, and less if you buy a year membership. Even if you join for a short amount of time, you can learn a tremendous amount in a short amount of time.

We highly recommend this forum and service. The reason we are creating this blog post is that recently Habib was traveling with Dr. Fuhrman and saw him up at 5 am, going through the forum, answering questions in his forum. Pretty amazing, even now that Fuhrman has started to become very well known through his deal with Whole Foods, though his books- he is still answering peoples' questions at 5 am.

If you have any questions, please reply in the comments section below or just reply to our email. We'd be glad to help you!

If you are reading this and are already a member, please let us know your experience so far and we will put it right in this post.

One more thing- if you have ever wanted to meet Dr. Fuhrman, he is holding a "Health Getaway" this summer at Park City, Utah. The event is being mc'd by his friend Marilu Henner, who many of you remember for her role on the TV show "Taxi." Like us, she is a strong advocate for the work Dr. Fuhrman is doing!

"I recently became a member of Dr. Fuhrman's member center. I was drawn to it because even though I thought I was following the Eat to Live method, I wasn't at the low weight that I had previously achieved. I thought maybe I needed more education on the matter and I joined up. I was right. I really didn't know enough about the method. Once I spent some time in the member center, a lot of my questions were answered and I was refocused. I especially love that I receive one new recipe per day by e-mail from Dr. Fuhrman AND that I can see what other members have to say about that recipe. That helps a lot when cooking as much as I and really what anyone has to do when you elimate most processed food."

02/04/2011

We have been focusing a lot recently on the subject of energy at PEERtrainer. The reason we have been doing this is that an overwhelming number of you have been telling us that you are feeling tired. The response has been really great, and we have been sent hundreds of emails thanking us and asking us followup questions.

One of the reasons that the response has been great is that lack of energy is something you feel. It is an obvious thing. So when we send out an email that has a subject line of "4 Supplements That Will Give You More Energy" or some variation of that, the response is great. The emails get opened, the links get clicked on and the articles get read and passed around.

We are saying this because we are going to be shifting the discussion somewhat to the subject of inflammation. We are "caveating" this because inflammation is not something that you generally feel, like you feel when you are tired.

But it is equally as important. If not more important.

What is interesting about inflammation is that there is a PILE of research that specifically links elevated levels of "inflammatory markers" to a whole host of negative health outcomes. We have been looking at studies published by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) that link inflammation to future weight gain, increases in cholesterol levels, as well as raise the risk of stroke and heart disease.

On its face, PEERtrainer is a "weight loss company." But as you know, if you lose weight in a healthy, sustainable and long term way, your health improves. Ever since we met (and worked with) the founder of a large health care company, we have been working hard to make sure that people lose weight in a manner that leads to better health.

This has made things tough for us from a marketing perspective. There are a lot of highly popular ways to lose weight, that unfortunately lead to both people gaining the weight back and harming their health. The typical "yo-yo" diet cycle for example is very tough on your system.

A less popular weight loss marketing message is, "hey take two years of time, totally change your eating habits and become really introspective." That tends to not lead to immediate action.

But, it is pretty much the only way you are going to lose weight for the long haul. We are saying all of this to show, again, how "all this stuff is connected."

Key Point:

If you do the things that lead to long term weight loss, your health will improve. If you do the things that help foster greater health, you are likely to find it easier to lose weight.

So back, to the subject of inflammation....

What is also interesting about inflammation is that there is also a growing body of research that demonstrates the effectiveness of certain herbal substances in reducing inflammation. As well as a very well established set of protocols or "tools" that work to help you get the "fire" of inflammation under control.

We were in Whole Foods today (one of our favorite research labs!) and learned something very interesting. It turns out that the top selling herbal supplement that is sold to "promote healthy inflammation response" is also the most extensively researched.

The supplement is called Zyflamend, and it is the top selling herbal anti-inflammatory supplement in the United States right now. It is made by a company called New Chapter, and you can find it in most places supplements are sold. (It is important to note that New Chapter only sells whole food-based, non-synthetic supplements. If you are familiar with Dr. Fuhrman's urgent warnings on the dangers of synthetic folic acid, New Chapter's multivitamins only contain natural folate. New Chapter is widely regarded as the quality leader in their industry.)

Most herbal supplements rely on history, word of mouth and anecdotal evidence to help promote them. Zyflamend is in a different class because of a recent clinical study performed on it by Columbia University.

In this study they tested Zyflamend on a group of men between 40 and 75 who were at a high level of risk for developing prostate cancer. Over the 18 months that the study took place, half of the subjects had a 25-50% reduction in PSA levels. PSA stands for "Prostate-Specific Antigen", and the basic deal is that as PSA levels rise so do occurrences of prostate cancer.

We began this discussion of inflammation with clinical studies because we wanted to show you how well understood the problem is, as well as help show you how well understood many of the solutions to this problem are.

Now, inflammation is a big and complex subject. Entire books can and have been written on the subject. The purpose of this article is to get you focused on this issue, and also relate it back to your efforts to improve your weight and your fitness. It is intended to be a starting point for this important discussion.

What Are The Roots Of Inflammation And How Does One "Put Out The Fire?"

Chronic inflammation usually has it roots in diet, although a wide array of irritants can also exacerbate the problem. The usual suspects like sugar, processed foods and high amounts of animal fat are widely thought to contribute to inflammation.

A good way of thinking about reducing inflammation, is that you want to "put the fire out."

You need to identify and reduce the foods that help to foster the creation of pro-inflammatory substances. At the same time you want to identify and increase the foods that block these substances and help to reverse the damage done.

A nutrient dense diet, featuring high amounts of greens and cuciferous vegetable forms the base of a diet that will help prevent disease and generally make you feel better. This is the exact same diet approach that one would take to lose weight for the long term.

Hopefully reading this information will help to increase your motivation to consume more greens.

Chronic inflammation can be a difficult and frustrating thing to completely tackle. For many people simply eating more vegetables and reducing gluten, dairy and sugar will not be enough. At least not right away.

You have to realize that a poor diet can take a toll on your body, and most of us have been hammering our bodies for years. You can't expect immediate relief. Yet many people do.

However, if you take a broad approach to "putting the fire out" you will find that you will have greater control over this as time goes on.

For example in addition to making some shifts in your diet, you are also likely to benefit from a high quality fish oil supplement. You see these everywhere now, and there is a very good reason for that. Fish oil contains very powerful anti-inflammatory properties.

The research behind fish oil is extensive, (here is one example) and we will probably develop an entire article just on this subject alone.

Additionally, there are some herbal blends, like Zyflamend which have powerful anti-inflammatory properties. As you start to stack these different tools together, you are likely to have begun the process of putting yourself on the right track long term.

High doses of vitamins C and B have also been shown by clinical research to play an important role in reducing inflammation. It is important to remember that green vegetables like Broccoli are rich in Vitamin C. We usually think of Vitamin C as something we get from Oranges or Orange Juice. If you try and get some of your Vitamin C from greens, you'll avoid some of the extra fructose which just may help with your weight.

For those of you who are committed meat eaters, free range chicken and grass fed beef and bison are thought to be less inflammatory than traditional meat. We need to do some more research into this, but people like Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum suggest that eating grass fed meat instead of grain fed meat will provide some help.

This whole process is likely to be frustrating, especially if you have been grappling with chronic disease. But if you get a good view of the "playing field" you can begin to get handle on how you can go about tackling this issue.

Again, we'd love to hear your feedback on your experiences. The best content we create is in response to the questions you all have. So keep them coming, keep posting on our Facebook Wall. We are also very interested in Zyflamend, and New Chapter in general.

Dr. Fuhrman has really sounded the alarm about certain synthetic substances and certain minerals that he feels ought to not be in vitamins and supplements. We have found New Chapter and Dr. Fuhrman to be very much on the same page. We will be working to confirm and verify all of this.

12/31/2008

On PEERtrainer we have a very active and supportive group of people dealing with Auto-Immune disorders. There are all sorts of different manifestations of this, and I wanted to highlight an interesting discussion on this issue that have had on the site.

"I have psoriasis and severe psoriatic arthritis. The arthritis effects most every joint in my body, including my spine. Aside from the inflammation and pain there is tremendous fatigue. It's not a terribly pretty picture! But I am lightyears better than I was when I was diagnosed and I've done it without the big guns to this point. So far I have managed with NSAIDs and a few supplements. When I was diagnosed I was supposed to go on methotrexate and was told that Enbrel would be probably 6 months away. I didn't start the methotrexate (same fears you've had) and I have done well. In addition to my regular rheum. I see a naturapath and accupunturist and go for reiki and massage as often as I can. I've been gluten free and vegan for 2 years with great benefit.

However, my turning point came when I read about the benefits of nutrient dense foods. Even though I was vegan, I wasn't getting enough greens (sounds ridiculous, I know!) So, I HAVE to recommend that you read Eat to Live and/or Eat for Health by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. I read his work in April, started with his Eat to Live approach and had a tremendous improvement. I still have significant flares (I've been in a bad one for several weeks now), but eating nutrient dense foods seems to be the best way to fuel your body, especially when it's out of balance. Definitely get your hands on Fuhrman's work --- you will devour it and put it into practice --- there's really no way you can't once you read it and it has the potential to change your life not by putting dangerous drugs into your body but by making "nutrition the prescription". There is an active Eat to Live/Eat for Health team on PT that is excellent for support as well. "

"I had a really frustrating experience with Western Docs when it came to Autoimmune disorders. They just don't seem to have a lot of answers. Anyway, I was "diagnosed" with Hashimoto's Disease (autoimmune of thyroid), and ended up getting treated by an acupuncturist/naturopathic doctor. Can't tell you how glad I am that I did."